Disclaimer: The Winchesters belong to Eric Kripke and I will be forever grateful to him for sharing them with us. I hope he doesn't mind me borrowing them from time to time; I promise to return them as I found them. And I know the rule. If I break them, I buy them.
A/N: Still kind of setting things up here so don't expect a whole lot. We're not too far from the end, I think, but there's still some work to be done. Thanks for sticking with me; your feedback is welcome and appreciated.
Chapter 7
Dean leaned against Sam's bedroom door, watching his younger brother sleep. He'd gotten up to use the bathroom and when he heard Sam calling Jessica's name, went to check on him. Sam would have been embarrassed by this, but there had been no shortage of Dean watching over his brother's sleep through the years. Sam settled down on his own, but still Dean watched him. He wondered again if the dreams weren't rooted in something other than the supernatural; if it was the upcoming anniversary causing the dreams about Jessica.
Sam had always been plagued by nightmares. When they were young, Dean would wake to the sound of his brother screaming as he came out of some awful dream. At first it was their father who comforted Sam, but gradually Dean took over that role. Instead of Dean watching John rush into the room at the first hint of Sam's terror, he would tend to his brother with John watching from the doorway. Sometimes it was easy to get him back to sleep, other times it took every ounce of ingenuity and brotherly concern that Dean could muster. Sometimes sleep would not return. As Sam got older, the screaming stopped but Dean would still wake up when his brother dreamed. Before Sam left for school, the dreams had all but stopped.
Dean wondered, not for the first time, what made the dreams worse at some times than others. Were the dreams in Sam's childhood premonitions of some kind or did that truly not start until the dreams before Jessica's death? There was no way of knowing. Eventually, Dean returned to the living room and settled under a blanket on the couch. He was a little anxious about taking Sam to his home – home; that was not a word he had ever used to describe where he now lived. Oddly, even though he had only visited Stanford, Dean thought of Sam's apartment as home. It occurred to him as he drifted off to sleep that the only home he'd ever really known was with Sam.
Sam was tired the next morning but eager to get on the road. He told the couple of people that might have missed him he would be gone for a while at the party the night before and packed when he got home. He was used to traveling light, having done it his entire life, and it hadn't taken him long.
They packed a few snacks for the road and after stopping for gas and coffee, were on their way north. Later, Dean glanced over at his brother who had fallen asleep with his head against the passenger side window. He couldn't help but smile a little thinking back to all the other times he'd witnessed the same thing. For so long it seemed like the only real sleep Sam could get was in the car. Dean reached over to turn down the radio even though it obviously wasn't bothering his brother and settled back in his seat. He had the unusual urge to touch Sam's arm but instead put both hands on the steering wheel and concentrated on the road in front of them.
Sam woke up with a slight start. He sat up and glanced at Dean who was pretending not to notice.
"Where are we?" Sam asked, rubbing his face with his hand.
"About two hours south of Portland. I was planning to stop soon and get something to eat. There's a town not too far away."
"Sounds good."
Dean pulled into the parking lot of a roadside diner he'd stopped at before on his way from Sam's. They made a pit stop in the men's room, then settled at a corner booth. The place was nearly empty after the lunch rush and the waitress took care of them immediately. Dean didn't approve of Sam's ordering a bowl of soup instead of something more hearty but at least the kid was eating.
With the excitement of a small child, Sam started asking questions about Dean's life in Oregon. He asked Dean to describe his apartment, the neighborhood, and the bar he worked in. Dean answered all of his questions with the patience only a big brother could have, happy to see Sam enthusiastic about something.
Once they hit Portland, Sam took everything in as Dean drove to his apartment, pointing things out along the way. He was a little surprised to find that the apartment was over the bar where Dean worked.
"The building is owned by Mike Bradford. I met him when I first got into town." Dean explained as he and Sam got their bags from the trunk. "I was checking out the bar and we just got to talking somehow. Turned out I was able to help him with a problem and before the week was out he offered me a job and told me I could rent the apartment upstairs"
Sam smiled as they walked to the private entrance of the apartment. "And he just let you have time off to come to California and –"
Dean shrugged. "Yeah. We have an arrangement."
"What kind of problem did you help him with?" Sam asked, waiting while Dean unlocked the door.
"Poltergeist."
"What?"
Dean led the way inside. "It just sort of happened. I'm not hunting anymore." he looked pointedly at his brother. "Unlike some people."
"I told you –"
Dean waved him off. "I know."
Sam put his bag down and took in the room.
"It's nothing fancy, but it's private." Dean said.
Sam walked past a large television and concentrated on the shelves across the room. They contained a few books, some crystals and some of the old family snapshots put into frames. The room also contained a stereo, large comfortable looking sofa and classic rock posters on the walls. The room felt so much like Dean.
"There are two small bedrooms in the back; the place came furnished so there are even two beds." Dean nodded toward the back of the apartment. "There's a bathroom between them. Kitchen's over there."
Dean picked up Sam's bag and deposited in the spare bedroom while Sam continued to look around. It surprised Sam a little that Dean had made the place feel so warm because he'd always insisted he didn't need a home or anything resembling a normal life. Of course Sam always thought that was the bravado talking and he took the apartment as proof.
"It looks like you've got a real life here, Dean." Sam said as his brother came back into the room.
"It's just an apartment, Dude. Since I haven't been here for a week the fridge probably needs to be cleaned out, but we can go downstairs for food later. It's pretty well insulated so you won't hear a lot of noise from there. It's kind of a neighborhood place during the week but spices up a little on the weekends. There's a house band on Saturdays."
Sam sat on the couch.
"The bar has a wireless network; you can connect to the Internet if you want. Anything else you need, let me know."
"Thanks."
Dean sat next to his brother.
"I mean, it, Dean. Thanks for bringing me here."
"I know I never formally said it, but you're always welcome here. You're welcome where ever I am."
Sam smiled.
"There's a video store down the street and an antique bookstore you might find interesting. It's the Pacific Northwest so there's at least one Starbucks on every corner. Pretty much anything you might need is in walking distance. Tomorrow we can go out and do some exploring. I've done some but stick pretty close by here."
"You mentioned before you had buddies you sometimes hang out with."
Dean nodded. "Yeah. They're regulars at the bar but sometimes we come up here for a game or two of poker. Sometimes we go to another bar – I don't pick up women where I work."
Sam laughed. "It's still weird for me to think of you as working."
"I hang out in a bar, pour a few drinks. It's not that hard and it's decent money. Bob gives me time off pretty much any time I want it so it's not a whole lot like a real job."
Sam felt a sudden surge of emotion. Dean told him before that he was okay but now Sam really believed it. He thought it ironic that he, who always yearned for a normal life, would be the one to slip back into the hunter's world at the first opportunity while his brother seemed fine without it.
"Sam?"
He shook his head. "It's nothing."
Dean took him at his word and a few minutes later they retreated to the bedrooms to rest before deciding what to do with their evening.
TBC
